Charles Darwin's scientific development: A Levinsonian study of early and middle adulthood

This dissertation concerned Charles Darwin's adult development during his early adulthood and middle age. Darwin was chosen as a subject because of his importance to both the biological sciences and to psychology, and because there is a wealth of archival material with which to document his long life. Data for the analysis were drawn from published and unpublished correspondence and diaries, as well as Darwin's own published works. The results of the research corroborated earlier findings on life cycle adult development by Daniel Levinson and his co-thinkers. I document the powerful influence that Darwin's contradictory dream of revolutionary scientific achievement and acceptance as a respected country gentleman had upon his life and work. I also show how the developmental tasks of the different periods of the life cycle influenced Darwin's choice of career, his commitment to relationships with family, friends and mentors, and his evolving sense of personal identity. In addition, the influence of such developmental tasks upon Darwin's theoretical and creative endeavors is examined. Specifically, I show that the creation of Darwin's theory of natural selection was intimately related to the resolution of a developmental crisis during his age 30 transition. Furthermore, important changes and additions to this theory in the 20 years that followed were partly the result of an individuation process during Darwin's mid-life transition, as he tried to achieve a better balance of inner psychic polarities. The long illness and depression Darwin suffered during his age 50 transition is analyzed in the context of the only partially successful personality individuation he achieved during the mid-life transition. I also examine how the pattern of his chronic illnesses in both early and middle adulthood can be understood in the context of successive structure-building and structure-changing periods over the lifespan. Finally, I consider the ways in which understanding the tasks of a given period of the life cycle can enhance our understanding of the individual life course, in both its clinical and normative aspects.